When an aircraft travels along a runway, it will inevitably run over debris such as a screw, nut etc., that will be lofted toward the engines. If the debris is injested by the engines, severe damage could occur, resulting in costly repairs and possibly endangering the safety of the plane.
Glasenapp, U.S. Pat. No. 4,389,029 and Bowdy, U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,285, disclose horizontally mounted deflectors for preventing engine inhalation of water. Because of the narrow profile, which is required to allow the tires to fit within the wheel wells, these deflectors do not trap all of the debris created by the tires. In addition, the horizontal deflectors tend to direct the debris horizontally toward the fuselage, where solid articles could ricochet back into the engines.